[Monitor] E-commerce giant Coupang now bigger than offline retailer Lotte Mart

Coupang became the first Korean e-commerce company to surpass 7 trillion won ($5.75 billion) mark in annual sales, getting ahead of offline retailer Lotte Mart, one of the three biggest discount store chains in the country.

According to Coupang’s audit report Tuesday, it recorded 7.15 trillion won in sales in 2019, a 64.2 percent surge from 4.35 trillion won in 2018, while operating loss decreased by more than 400 billion won, to 720 billion won from 1.12 trillion won.

Meanwhile, Lotte Mart recorded 6.33 trillion won in sales in 2019, falling behind Coupang for the first time.

Coupang attributed the revenue growth to expanded “Wow” delivery service that allowed overnight and same-day deliveries nationwide. Growth was apparent in categories of home appliances and fresh food.

In tune with the revenue jump, Coupang also hired more, with the number of direct and indirect jobs generated growing from 25,000 in 2018 to 30,000 last year.

Coupang’s delivery centers increased from 27 in 2014 to 168 in 2019. Currently as of 2019, 34 million live within 10 minutes of a Coupang Delivery Center, up from 2.6 million as of 2014.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)